Wire-stretcher.



Patented July 15, 1902.

w. m. HALPAIN.

WIRE STHETOHEB.

(Application filed. Oct. 15,1901.)

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UNITED STATES" PATENT OFFICE.

' WILLIAM M. HALPAIN, or HAMILTON, TEXAS.

WlRE-STRETCHER..

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 704,875, dated July 15, 1902. Application filed October 15, 1901. Serial No. 78,722. (No modem To all? whom, it may concern:

Be itknown-that I, WI L AM M. HALPAIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hamilton, in the county of Hamilton and State of Texas, have invented a new and useful VVire Stretcher, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to wire-stretchers; and the object thereof is to provide an improved device of this character for drawing fence-wires around the posts thereof to hold the same while a supplemental tie-wire is being engaged with the fence-wire and around the stretcher.

the post, so as to hold the slack taken up by It is furthermore designed to provide a light and strong implement, so that itmay be readily manipulated, and also to provide the lever of the device with a metallic. fulcrum which is arranged to stiffen and'pro-;

tect one. end of the lever.

Another object is to'mount the wire-en! gaging links in such a'manner as to facilitate the engagement thereof with fence-wires and also to automatically accommodate themselves to the movement of the lever. i

With these and other objects in View the} present invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, shown in the acv companyingdrawings,and particularly point-1 ed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes inthe form, proportion, size, and minor details may be made within the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a wire-stretcher constructed and arranged in accordance with the present in vention and applied to a fence-post in operative relation to a runner-wire. Fig. 2 is a plan View thereof, parts being broken away to show the mounting. of the wire e'ngaging links. v ,7

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in both figures of the draw lugs.

In carrying out the present invention there is provided a Wooden lever or handle 1 of suitable length, one end portion of which is shaped to form a hand-grasp, and the opposite end is somewhat enlarged and beveled upon its upper side, as indicated at 2. In

the upper side of the handle and adjacent to the inner beveled end there is provided a socket or recess 3, the opposite ends of which are formed into pointed stop-shoulders 4.

lVithin the socket 0r recess 3 there is mounted a cross-head 5, which projects equally in opposite directions beyond the 1e-' ver and is pivoted at its middle by means of a bolt 6, piercing the lever and the cross-head 5. To the opposite ends of the cross-head are loosely connected the links 7 which'diverge toward and project beyond'the beveled end of the lever and are provided with terminal hooks S.

A metal strap or plate 9 is secured across the recess 3 and fastened to the top of the lever by means of suitable bolts 10, thereby to cover the recess and also protect the cross- -head. The pivot-bolt 6 also pierces the strap or plate 9. I The outer'end of the metallic strap'or plate is bent to snugly fit the beveled end of the lever and is projected beyond the same and provided with a forked or bi- I furcated terminal 11, which is designed to form the fulcrum-of the lever.

Between the cross-headband the outer or handle end of the lever there 'is provided a bowed arm or prop 12, which .has its inner end provided with afork 13, which straddles the lever at or adjacent to the inner end of the plate or strap 9 and is pivotally connected thereto by means of a pivot-bolt 14, the outer free end of the arm or prop being pointed.

In the operation of the .device to take up the slack in a runner-wire, as indicated by the numeral 15, the forked or fulcrum end of the lever is thrust into engagement with the post 16 at a suitable distance below the wire, and the hooked links 7 are engaged with the wire at opposite sides of the post, and then the outer end of the lever is forced downwardly upon its fulcrum-support with the post, thereby to draw the wire snugly about the post and take up any slack which may have been in the wire; After therwire has been stretched to thedesifred degree the holding arm or prop 12 is thrown downwardly, so as to engage its free pointed'end with the post, and thereby hold the lever against return movement after pressure has been removed from the handle thereof, whereby the I runner-wire will he held in its stretched condition until a suitable tie-wire can beconnected to the runner-wire and embracing the post to hold said runner-Wire in its taut condition.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that the provision of a wooden lever renders the device comparatively light, and by providing the metallic strap at the inner end of the lever to form a fulcrum it also materially strengthens and protects the wooden lever, and thereby adds strength and dura-- bility thereto. Furthermore, the provision of the pivotal cross-head carrying the hooked links permits of a free movement of the latter, so as to facilitate the engagement thereof with runner-wires, and the opposite ends of the recess are pointed, so as to afford the maximum play for the cross-head. Should the cross-head be swung to either limit, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2 of the drawings,the corresponding shoulders of said ends will also form braces, so as to relieve strain from the pivot-bolt 6 and the metal plate or strap 9.

What I claim is 1. A wire-stretcher, comprising a lever, a swinging cross-head disposed transversely of the lever and having an intermediate fulcrum connection therewith, whereby the cross-head is capable of swinging in a direction endwise of the lever, and wire-engaging links loosely carried by the opposite ends of the cross-head.

2. A wire-stretcher comprising a lever having a socket or recess formed in the upper side thereof, a cross-head mounted within the recess, a metal strap secured across the recess and projected at the adjacent end of the lever to form a fulcrum therefor, and wireengaging hooks loosely connected to the outer ends of the crosshead.

3. A Wire-stretcher comprising a lever having a beveled end and a recess formed adjacent to said end and in the upper face thereof, a cross head mounted in the recess, a metal strap secured across the recess, conformed to the beveled end of the lever and projected beyond the latter to form a fulcrum-point, a pivot-bolt piercing the lever, the cross-head and the strap, and wire-engaging links loosely connected to the opposite ends of the cross-head.

4. A wire-stretcher, comprising a Wooden lever having a beveled end and a recess formed adjacent to said end and in the upper face of the lever, a metal plate scoured across the recess formed in the beveled end of the lever and having a projected bifuroated end to form a fulcrum, a cross-head fitted in the recess, a pivot piercing the lever, the cross head and the metal strap, links loosely connected to the opposite ends of the cross-head and having outer terminal hooks, and a prop pivoted to the lever and located outwardly from the cross-head. 5. A wire-stretcher, comprising a lever, an intermediately pivoted cross head carried thereby, wire-engaging links connected to the opposite ends of the cross-head, and correspondingly-beveled stop-shoulders located at opposite sides of the cross-head and in the path of the swinging movement thereof.

6. AWire-stretcher, comprisingalever hav= in g a recess formed therein, the opposite ends of the recess being pointed to form corre spondingly-beveled stop-shoulders, a crosshead pivoted intermediatelyin the recess and capable of contact with the corresponding stop-shoulders, and wire-engaging links carried by the opposite ends of the cross-head.

7.. A wire-stretcher, comprisinga lever having a recess formed therein, the opposite ends of the recess being pointed to form corresponding stop-shoulders, a cross-head pivoted intermediately in the recess -and capable of contact with the shoulders, and a metal strap secured across the recess and projected beyond the adjacent end of the lever to form a fulcrum therefor.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

YVILLIAM M. HALPAIN. I

WVitnesses:

J. H. DIXON, F. M. CARTER. 

